Tuesday, September 29, 2009

I take the victory last week based on my homer pick of Iowa over PSU and the incredibly strange reverse pick of TCU over Clemson. On to week two!

#4 LSU @ #18 Georgia

Iggins!: LSU has struggled against some lesser competition, and Georgia has played four top level teams so far, beating three of them, and only losing barely to a very good OK State team. LSU is ranked this high based on prestige, goodbye to another top 5 team. Georgia wins.

Code Red: LSU has a defense, something Georgia is lacking. Also, Joe Cox just isn’t a good quarterback, even though AJ Green consistently saves his ass. LSU wins.

#22 Michigan @ Michigan State

Code Red: I had deluded myself into thinking that maybe Michigan would be down for a few years under Rich Rod, but alas, it is not so. Michigan.

Iggins!: This is tough. Michigan is showing off their flaws. They have a subpar defense and can be easily gameplanned for, which means lesser competition can make games closer than they should be. But I have no faith in Michigan State winninga close game. Michigan wins.

Washington @ Notre Dame

Iggins!: Notre Dame may not be a BCS worthy team any OTHER year, but with the mess going on right now I bet they’re good enough to get one. Notre Dame wins. (and they’ll beat USC too).

Code Red: The BCS? Nay, I say. But they’ll beat Washington, although my West Coast Tebow, Jake Locker, will have a good game. Notre Dame wins.

Florida State @ Boston College

Code Red: Guh. Why the hell does this game deserve the Gameday Crew? Couldn’t have anything to do with ESPN having an affinity for Boston, could it? Florida State will win, but damned if I give a fuck about it.

Iggins!: Did you just suggest that ESPN sends College Gameday only to places that upper management at ESPN has a vested interest in?! Shocking! FSU is wildly inconsistent, and BC sucks wildly. So I choose FSU for the win.

Oregon State @ AZ State

Iggins!: Oregon State happily made Iowa’s win over Arizona look better last week. It’s impossible to tell if either of these teams is good yet… but I don’t see OSU going 2-3. Oregon State wins.

Code Red: Hmm…hard to say here. Flipping coin- Oregon State wins.

#25 Georgia Tech @ Mississippi State

Code Red: Mississippi State nearly upset LSU, but it will not upset the wishbone! Georgia Tech wins.

Iggins!: Your love of that stupid formation will be your downfall, my friend, for this ACC team is ranked, and because this is the way it is, they must lose. Mississippi State wins.

#7 USC @ #24 California

Iggins!: Here is my basic theory: College football this year has one really good team (Florida) and the next 35 teams are a clusterfuck. Both Cal AND USC are overrated, but USC is somehow still ranked #7, whereas Cal has fallen to a ranking that fits them. Cal will put ‘em in their rightful place. Cal wins.

Code Red: This one’s tough. I really liked Miami before their loss to VT (even though I picked VT), and I still think they are a talented team with a great young quarterback. Oklahoma has rallied under back up quarterback Landry Jones, and they may even have Chad Bradford back. I just think they’re too talented to lose this game. Oklahoma wins.

Iggins!: Home field advantage is huge here. No way Miami loses. Miami wins.

Washington State @ #16 Oregon

Iggins!: The rest of these games are hard to pick so I figured me and Red needed an easy one. Oregon wins.

Code Red:Oregon.

Wisconsin @ Minnesota

Code Red: Christ, the Big Ten sucks. Wisconsin?

Iggins!: Wisconsin is another team that needs to get a loss, and Minnesota is on their level. Plus, this is a rivalry and Minnesota has a new stadium. Minnesota wins.

I'm not gonna recap game by game, especially for the games that weren't surprises, so here's just a brief recap of the ones that did surprise-

Iowa 21, #4 Penn State 10Iowa's defense is very good. Penn State was incompetent and hurt their own cause repeatedly, but Iowa's constant pressure contributed to that. This was just a terrible performance by PSU in every way.

Oregon 42, #5 Cal 3What the hell, Cal? The Oregon team that seemed dead in the water against Boise State and barely survived Utah somehow thumps the team that I had as Pac 10 favorite? To hell with thee! Does this just make Boise State's defense really, really good?

South Carolina 16, #6 Ole Miss 10This one's far less surprising than the other two, as Ole Miss has been a shaky team this season and South Carolina's defense is pretty solid, and South Carolina was at home. Jevan Snead looked absolutely lost under the beating he and his offensive line took. We'll have to see if Ole Miss can rebound through the rest of the SEC schedule, or if this sinks them into mediocrity.#11

#11 Virginia Tech 31, #15 Miami 7As you'll know if you read this site, I felt the AP was far too quick to rank Miami in the top ten, and I picked VT to win this game. I was a bit surprised at how dominant a performance this was by VT. I expected a better effort by Miami. Oh well.

South Florida 17, #21 Florida State 7Good, I can finally get them out of this damn poll. God damn I hate Bobby Bowden.

The new rankings-

#1 Florida (-) They have a bye this week, which will give him time to recover, but I really hope Tim Tebow isn't going to push it and play against LSU if he's not 100%. This is just football, and a concussion of that magnitude isn't something to trifle with (believe me, I would know. Thank you, hit and run driver who left me in a ditch to die!)#2 Texas (-) They're like, really really good.#3 Alabama (-) And so are they. Damn you, Nick Saban.#4 Boise State (+3) That win over Oregon now looks pretty damn legitimate.#5 Oklahoma (+3) They didn't play, but Sam Bradford's near a return and they're still stacked.#6 Ohio State (+3) Illinois couldn't even muster up one lousy damn point.#7 LSU (+3) Every SEC team gets upset (or nearly so) by Miss. State at some point.#8 Virginia Tech (+3) They look as solid as any of Beamer's best teams right now.#9 USC (+5) I didn't really want to put them back in the top ten, but look around and ask if anyone else is really that good, either.#10 Oklahoma State (+3). They're finally getting that offense cranked up.#11 Cincinnati (+1). I don't want to put them in the top ten yet because I don't trust the Big East.

#12 Penn State (-8). They're better than they played Saturday. How much? I don't know. I'm not sure they'll stay here long.

#13 Ole Miss (-7). I have a bad feeling they're about to sink to a 7-5 mediocrity, but right now I'll hold up on the panic button.

#14 TCU (+5). I really don't know anything about this year's incarnation of the Horned Frogs, but Gary Patterson's teams are consistently good, and they deserve this spot as much as anyone else.

#15 Iowa (NR). I hate ranking them below Penn State, because they manhandled them, but proper poll etiquette dictates that jumping Iowa higher than the top 15 despite being unranked the week before is just wrong, no matter what the AP (#13) says. They'll work their way up, though.

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